Durango city councilors on Tuesday heard debate about a proposed ordinance regulating medical marijuana dispensaries, and eventually approved some tweaks to the law on a 5-0 vote.
Councilors must still take another vote on the ordinance before it becomes effective.
Several residents spoke in support of the proposed ordinance, and three Animas High School parents and board members expressed concerns with Natures Medicine and its proximity to AHS.
Animas High, a charter high school enrolling 75 freshmen this year, and Natures Medicine, one of Durango’s four medical marijuana dispensaries sit within the 500 feet that a proposed ordinance would institute as a buffer between dispensaries and schools. Two of those dispensaries are only 312½ feet apart.
“I would love to see you move,” said AHS board member and parent Sue Lott told Nate Fete, business manager of Natures Medicine, Tuesday night.
Lott, Julie Hutt – a pediatrician who said she supports
legitimate medical uses for marijuana – and Nancy Heleno said they’ve witnessed illegal activity occurring on or just off Natures’ site on 32nd Street across from north City Market.
Heleno said she feels unsafe working next door to the dispensary when her 7-year-old son is with her. She said she’s seen young men smoke and deal marijuana just outside the facility, and she is in regular contact with police.
“This is a big issue for me,” Heleno said.
City Attorney David Smith said he has been in contact with other Colorado city attorneys, and has discussed strategies for dealing with a sudden influx of dispensaries. A budding market for medical marijuana came quickly after an announcement last spring by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that federal funds would no longer go toward prosecuting the dispensation of medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana was legal.
Since that announcement, municipalities in Colorado and California have struggled to catch up with the rush of marijuana entrepreneurs. In Colorado, Durango was one of several cities that instituted emergency moratoriums in response to a surge in dispensaries last summer. Craig, Westminster, Englewood, Dillon and Winter Park all passed similar ordinances. Last month, in a 4-1 vote, councilors supported the emergency ordinance, proposed by Durango Police Chief David Felice, that halted the issuance of business licenses to dispensaries for 60 days. The four dispensaries that beat the deadline were allowed to continue providing marijuana to patients.
The proposed ordinance stipulates that no dispensaries may be located in residential neighborhoods. They will be allowed to operate only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The 2000 Colorado amendment already stipulates that marijuana may not be consumed in public.
As for AHS and Natures Medicine, Smith said city ordinances don’t apply to businesses that already hold valid licenses in the city, and because Natures got its application in before the deadline, the 500-foot requirement would not affect the dispensary.
He said declining the business application could have opened the door for a successful appeal by the owner.
Fete, of Natures Medicine, said the business never planned to be in this situation. He and Lott dispute whether or not Natures had reason to believe AHS would move in, but Natures did set up shop first.
“Obviously, if this had been in place, we wouldn’t be there,” Fete said.
Councilor Michael Rendon said he wanted the situation resolved amicably, and clarified his support for legal use of marijuana.
“I would prefer they not be there, but they’re there,” he said.
Felice, two city councilors, representatives from the four dispensaries and about 20 other concerned residents and advocates, met at a public workshop to go over the main areas of concern: time, manner and place.
Smith said the trick will be to balance sane regulatory judgment while keeping an eye on the public welfare.
Discussing the appropriate distance between a dispensary and a school, Durango resident and medical marijuana patient Andy Rizzo proposed a solution.
“Why not make the limit 312 feet?”
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Garrett Andrews
Contact: Durango's home-page for breaking news, weather, sports, local events and entertainment - The Durango Herald
Copyright: 2009 The Durango Herald
Website:Durango Herald News, Durango Medical marijuana dispensaries to face new ordinance
Councilors must still take another vote on the ordinance before it becomes effective.
Several residents spoke in support of the proposed ordinance, and three Animas High School parents and board members expressed concerns with Natures Medicine and its proximity to AHS.
Animas High, a charter high school enrolling 75 freshmen this year, and Natures Medicine, one of Durango’s four medical marijuana dispensaries sit within the 500 feet that a proposed ordinance would institute as a buffer between dispensaries and schools. Two of those dispensaries are only 312½ feet apart.
“I would love to see you move,” said AHS board member and parent Sue Lott told Nate Fete, business manager of Natures Medicine, Tuesday night.
Lott, Julie Hutt – a pediatrician who said she supports
legitimate medical uses for marijuana – and Nancy Heleno said they’ve witnessed illegal activity occurring on or just off Natures’ site on 32nd Street across from north City Market.
Heleno said she feels unsafe working next door to the dispensary when her 7-year-old son is with her. She said she’s seen young men smoke and deal marijuana just outside the facility, and she is in regular contact with police.
“This is a big issue for me,” Heleno said.
City Attorney David Smith said he has been in contact with other Colorado city attorneys, and has discussed strategies for dealing with a sudden influx of dispensaries. A budding market for medical marijuana came quickly after an announcement last spring by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder that federal funds would no longer go toward prosecuting the dispensation of medical marijuana in states where medical marijuana was legal.
Since that announcement, municipalities in Colorado and California have struggled to catch up with the rush of marijuana entrepreneurs. In Colorado, Durango was one of several cities that instituted emergency moratoriums in response to a surge in dispensaries last summer. Craig, Westminster, Englewood, Dillon and Winter Park all passed similar ordinances. Last month, in a 4-1 vote, councilors supported the emergency ordinance, proposed by Durango Police Chief David Felice, that halted the issuance of business licenses to dispensaries for 60 days. The four dispensaries that beat the deadline were allowed to continue providing marijuana to patients.
The proposed ordinance stipulates that no dispensaries may be located in residential neighborhoods. They will be allowed to operate only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The 2000 Colorado amendment already stipulates that marijuana may not be consumed in public.
As for AHS and Natures Medicine, Smith said city ordinances don’t apply to businesses that already hold valid licenses in the city, and because Natures got its application in before the deadline, the 500-foot requirement would not affect the dispensary.
He said declining the business application could have opened the door for a successful appeal by the owner.
Fete, of Natures Medicine, said the business never planned to be in this situation. He and Lott dispute whether or not Natures had reason to believe AHS would move in, but Natures did set up shop first.
“Obviously, if this had been in place, we wouldn’t be there,” Fete said.
Councilor Michael Rendon said he wanted the situation resolved amicably, and clarified his support for legal use of marijuana.
“I would prefer they not be there, but they’re there,” he said.
Felice, two city councilors, representatives from the four dispensaries and about 20 other concerned residents and advocates, met at a public workshop to go over the main areas of concern: time, manner and place.
Smith said the trick will be to balance sane regulatory judgment while keeping an eye on the public welfare.
Discussing the appropriate distance between a dispensary and a school, Durango resident and medical marijuana patient Andy Rizzo proposed a solution.
“Why not make the limit 312 feet?”
News Hawk- Weedpipe 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Durango Herald
Author: Garrett Andrews
Contact: Durango's home-page for breaking news, weather, sports, local events and entertainment - The Durango Herald
Copyright: 2009 The Durango Herald
Website:Durango Herald News, Durango Medical marijuana dispensaries to face new ordinance
